Pre-kindergarten assessment tests often fail to measure creative intelligence.
Although assessment testing has been mandatory in most states for years, until 2009, none have enforced these requirements. Many educators have expressed distaste for pre-kindergarten assessment testing, including education expert Martha Foote, who claimed in an interview with the New York Daily that the testing is "highly inappropriate". Besides being costly to taxpayers, administering tests to pre-kindergarten students places them under needless pressure and does not adequately reflect their potential.
Improper Diagnoses
Because performance varies depending on individual temperament, it is expected that some young children will struggle with what their classmates may consider easy. Determining the presence of developmental delays based on pre-kindergarten assessment, therefore, is misleading and often causes parents needless worry. Children suffer, too; according to psychologist Katherine Berger, treatment for a non-existent problem often results in the development of related symptoms.
Cost
Cities may pay almost $500,000 each year for pre-kindergarten assessment testing. Those who are in opposition to pre-kindergarten assessment testing point out that taxpayers' money would be better used for other projects. Additionally, the testing does not serve an obvious purpose. According to Department of Education advocate Melody Meyer, results of pre-kindergarten testing do not appear on students' permanent records. Intervention for children who perform poorly on assessment tests is typically unnecessary, as low scores often reflect normal age-related underdevelopment.
Limited Assessment
Pre-kindergarten assessment tests do not measure every type of intelligence, and often fail to measure skill in creative or practical problem-solving. Gifted children, whose thinking tends to be more divergent than their peers' thinking, may misunderstand answer a particular question or approach it in an abstract way. Although this is a sign of talent, assessment testing usually indicates that it is an indicator of a learning disability.
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